The House of Hades : One Shot
by Sophia Child of Wisdom
Summary: A one-shot of Percy and Annabeth in Tartarus.


**Hey guys! I'm starting a new House of Hades fanfic, I'll update it every other week! SHOUT OUT TO Chubbypandaz! Go check her stories out! They're amazing! :)**

**Disclaimer: ****There once was a man named Rick. The book he wrote was a hit. But, alas, his ownership was strict. As shocking as Clarisse's Maimer, we still have to write a disclaimer; to those who may be blind, are you out of your mind? So, bottom line: Percy loves blue and Annabeth loves gray. Rick Riordan owns them, that's all I can say.**

Falling. They were falling, endlessly. She closed her eyes and leaned against Percy's chest. She hummed the the rhythm of his heartbeat and slowly drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

THUMP. She fell on something soft, so fluffy. She opened her eyes to complete darkness. Panic rushed through her and she began flailing, as if she was drowning. A soft bronze light washed upon her surroundings. Drip. Drop. Drip, drop. Water dripped from a stalactite, creating small glowing puddles. She sighed with relief when she realized she just had fell onto a thick mattress on a bed. Percy was right next to her, propped up on his elbow, with Riptide in its sword form.

They were silent, waiting for monsters. A small golden glow came from around the corner. The only sound was the water, creating eerie echoes.

"We're going to die down here," Annabeth whispered suddenly. Percy looked at her. She didn't meet his eyes.

"What?"

"We're going to die down here," she repeated, and this time she looked straight at him. Her voice trembled slightly.

"What? But ... we ... we ..."

"Don't," she warned. "I know what you're going to say. You're going to try to tell me that we can get through this, that we've faced bad things before, that we beat Kronos and I found the Athena Parthenos when no one else could and all that stuff, but come on, Percy."

He was silent, looking for something to say. She continued.

"We've been down here for - for I don't even know how long," it was true; in the endless darkness of Tartarus, it was impossible to keep track of time "We're tired, hungry, hurt. We're almost out of ambrosia, and the monsters just keep coming. We have no idea where we're going to go. Even if we do find the Doors of Death, what are the odds that the others will even be there at the same time as us? We don't have a chance."

Percy stared determinedly at the cavern floor, and said nothing.

"Percy, are you even-"

"Yeah, I know, okay? We're going to die down here." His voice cracked. His eyes were welling up with tears. Annabeth's breath left her; in spite of her conviction that she was right, she hadn't expected him to agree. The entire time they'd been on the quest, he had been the positive one, the one who was always urging her not to give up, that they'd find a way. She couldn't bear to see him look so broken.

"Of course we're going to die down here, we were always going to die," he continued bitterly. "I guess I was hoping that if we tried hard enough, maybe we'd at least be able to do something… I don't know. Something to help Frank and Jason and Hazel and all of them beat Gaea. But you're right. We can't do anything. We're already dead."

"I think maybe I always knew, deep down, that I didn't have a future," Percy said quietly. "Maybe that's why I never really let myself imagine one."

There was another long moment of silence.

"So, let's make one up."

"What do you mean?"

"If we can't have a real future, let's make one up."

"Why not?" he said. Then, after a pause, "I'd have graduated from Goode."

"The same school for four years? That's optimistic."

"You'd probably go to some hot-shot college. Harvard or Yale or something," he continued.

"Columbia," she decided. "So that I could stay close to Olympus. I could rebuild it all through college."

"We would rent out an apartment your junior year."

"Well, what would you be doing?"

"I don't know. Not going to school, that's for sure, maybe I'd join the fire department. I'm pretty good at putting out fires."

"Literally or metaphorically?"

"What?"

"Never mind," she sighed. A wave of exhaustion overcame them both, and Percy laid back on the cavern floor, Annabeth still in his arms.

"We could still go to camp for our summers. We'd have beaten Gaea, of course." he decided.

"I'd propose to you out at the dock. Where they threw us in."

"You'd probably drop the ring in the lake."

Percy laughed, a real one, in a long time. It sounded like the ocean waves, so very beautiful.

"Such a Seaweed Brain." Even though Percy couldn't see her, she shook her head fondly. In the depths of Tartarus, facing certain death, neither Percy nor Annabeth felt uncomfortable making up their future. There was no reason to.

"We couldn't get married at camp, though." Percy mused. "My parents wouldn't be allowed in. Or any mortals."

"We'd get married in your parents' backyard, Annabeth decided after a pause.

"My parents don't have a backyard"

"They would."

"Right. Grover would be my best man."

"Dang, he was going to be my maid of honor. I guess I'll have to pick Thalia instead."

"Would she be allowed to go to weddings?" Percy wondered aloud.

"She'd be allowed to go to mine," Annabeth said.

"You'd get some fancy job at an architecture office in Manhattan," Percy decided.

"Firm. You say "Architecture Firm". Not office."

"Right. Okay, you'd get a job at an architecture firm. And design a bunch of gorgeous buildings all over the world."

Annabeth felt her face flush, but she doubted Percy saw her red face."But I think we'd have to ask Zeus to give you permission to fly on commercial planes. Otherwise, travel would be a nightmare," she reasoned. Percy laughed lightly.

"Maybe we'd have a kid or two. A couple of kids who are brilliant like you, so I'd never have to help them with their homework," he said.

"Of course they'd be brilliant," said Annabeth. "And really, really good swimmers."

"And very attractive, of course. But they're not allowed to date until they're thirty, so that part doesn't really matter."

"Thirty? That seems a little harsh. Don't we want grandkids?"

"You're right. How about twenty-five? It probably wouldn't matter anyway. They wouldn't follow the rule."

"They'd be related to you, after all," Annabeth reasoned. Percy grinned.

"So they'd break our rule, get married, have kids… Then what? What would we do then?" Percy asked. Annabeth paused to think before answering.

"We'd keep living."

"We'd keep living," Percy echoed her. "Sounds good to me. But you forgot something."

"What?"

"We'd keep on living," he paused dramatically. "TOGETHER!" he shouted, punching his fist in the air. Annabeth jumped.

"Jeez, Seaweed Brain! You're so dramatic."

"And ... that's why you love me."

"True that." Annabeth sighed and repositioned herself on Percy's chest. She was beginning to drift off to sleep when Percy's voice woke her.

"Annabeth," he whispered.

"Mhmm?"

"I want that future."

Salty drops welled up in her eyes. It didn't work. A drop fell, and Percy kissed her cheek right there.

"Me too." She sighed. Percy brushed a strand of hair off of her forehead.

"Well, we're going to get it," he decided, his voice sounding stronger than she'd heard it in a long time "I don't give a damn how bad our odds are. I've always been horrible at math anyways. We're going to get it. We're going to keep fighting for it."

In spite of herself, Annabeth smiled.

"Alright, Seaweed Brain," she said, "Forget math. Let's keep fighting." A bright glow surrounded them, and they shared a heart-warming smile.

**I took some of the story WITH PERMISSION from another person called Oreallynow. Thank you. R&R. Oh. I also have a poll ... I wanted to know if I should make a series of one shots from They Are Here ... I might also be discontinuing my High School as Mortals for now ... If anybody wants to continue it, you can pm me. I will be updating HOH next Friday, then TSB the next, then HOH ... you get it. Ok. I'll put a shout out to my first reviewer in the each chappie!**

**- Sophia Hali Grace**


End file.
